Part 9

Pound it in a mortar to a smooth paste with either one-quarter pound of the fat, or with two ounces fresh butter. Season with cayenne, pounded mace and allspice.

Press it well into pots and cover with clarified butter or fat.

TO ROAST SHOAT.

The hind-quarter is considered best. Cut off the foot, leaving the hock quite short. Wash well and put into boiling water; simmer until done, adding salt and pepper just before lifting from the kettle; salt put in sooner hardens and toughens. Place the meat in a baking-pan and score across, in the direction in which it is to be carved. Skim several ladlefuls from the top of the kettle and pour over; after this has dried off, sprinkle over a little salt and pepper, cover with an egg beaten stiff, sift over powdered cracker, and set to brown. Lay around sweet potatoes first parboiled, then cut in thick slices. Serve with minced parsley and thyme, both on the meat and in the gravy.--_Mrs. S. T._

TO ROAST A FORE QUARTER OF SHOAT.

Put it on in hot water, boil for half an hour; take it out, put in a pan, gash it across with a sharp knife, in diamond shapes, grease it with lard and dredge with flour, pepper and a little salt. Peel some good Irish potatoes, lay them around the pan and set in the stove to brown, basting frequently. This meat should be cooked done, as it is not good the least rare. Grate some bread crumbs over it and serve.--_Mrs. P. W._

TO BARBECUE SHOAT.

Lay the shoat in water till ready for use; if small, it will cook in an hour. Put in the oven with two spoonfuls of water, a piece of lard, and dredge with flour. When ready for use, pour in half a teacup of walnut catsup, and, if not fat, a piece of butter.

SHOAT JOWL.

The upper half of the head is what is generally used for what is called "The Pig's-head Stew." Another nice dish may be made of the under jaw or jowl by parboiling until the jaw-bone can be taken out; always adding pepper and salt just before it is done. When perfectly tender, score across; pepper and salt again, cover with beaten egg, then with cracker. Set in a pan with some of the water in which it was boiled. Put in a hot oven and brown.--_Mrs. S. T._

ROAST PIG.

When roasted whole, a pig should not be under four nor over six weeks old. In town, the butcher prepares for roasting, but it is well to know, in the country, how this may be done. As soon as the pig is killed, throw it into a tub of cold water, to make it tender; as soon as cold, take it by the hind leg, and plunge into scalding, not boiling water (as the last cooks the skin so that the hair can with difficulty be removed), shake it about until the hair can be removed by the handful. When all that is possible has been taken off in this way, rub from the tail up to the end of the nose with a coarse cloth. Take off the hoofs, scrape and wash the ears and nose until perfectly clean. The nicest way to dress it is to hang it by the hind legs, open and take out the entrails; wash well with water, with a little soda dissolved in it; rinse again and again, and leave hanging an hour. Wrap in a coarse cloth wrung out of cold water and lay on ice or in a cool cellar until next morning, when, if the weather is warm, it must be cooked. It should never be used the same day that it is killed.

First prepare the stuffing of the liver, heart and haslets of the pig, stewed, seasoned, and chopped. Mix with these an equal quantity of boiled potatoes mashed; add a large spoonful of butter, with some hard-boiled eggs, parsley and thyme, chopped fine, pepper and salt.

Scald the pig on the inside, dry it and rub with pepper and salt, fill and sew up. Bend the fore legs under the body, the hind legs forward, under the pig, and skewer to keep in position. Place in a large baking-pan, pour over one quart of boiling water. Have a lump of fresh butter tied up in a clean rag; rub it all over the pig, then sprinkle over pepper and salt, putting some in the pan with a bunch of herbs; invert over it a baking-pan while it simmers, and steam until entirely done. Underdone pork, shoat, or pig, is both unpalatable and unwholesome. Remove the pan, rub over with the butter and baste often. When of a fine brown, cover the edges of a large dish with a deep fringe of curled parsley; first sift over the pig powdered cracker, then place it, kneeling, in the green bed. Place in its mouth an orange or a red apple; and, if eaten hot, serve with the gravy in a tureen or sauce-boat. It is much nicer cold; served with little mounds of grated horseradish amongst the parsley.--_Mrs. S. T._

TO STEW PIG'S HEAD AND JOWL.

Clean the head and feet; take out the bone above the nose; cut off the ears, clean them nicely. Separate the jowl from the head; take care of the brains to add to the stew. Put the head, jowl, feet and part of the liver in water sufficient to keep well covered; boil until quite done. Split the feet to put on the dish; hash the head and liver; but do not spoil the jowl, which must be put in the middle of the dish and surrounded with the feet and hash. Put all of the hash, jowl and feet in the pot and season with a cup of cream, a lump of butter, pepper and salt, a tablespoonful walnut catsup, an onion chopped fine, a stalk of celery.

A teaspoonful mustard improves it.

Stew half an hour; thicken the gravy with grated bread.--_Mrs. P. W._

SHOAT'S HEAD.

Get a shoat's head and clean it nicely. Boil and chop in pieces. Season with:

2 tablespoonfuls tomato catsup. 2 tablespoonfuls walnut catsup. 2 cups water. A little flour. 1 large spoonful butter. Pepper and salt.

Have two or three hard-boiled eggs, cut them in half and lay on the top of the head; set it in the oven to bake.

Veal or mutton head, can be cooked in the same way, but are not so nice.--_Mrs. R._

SHOAT'S HEAD, TO STEW.

Clean the head and feet; and put them on to parboil with the liver. Then split up the head, through the nose, taking out the bones. Cut the meat from the feet and chop up with the liver, season this with pepper and salt.

Lay the head open and fill it with this mince and the yolks of some hard-boiled eggs: if this does not fill the head, add some grated bread crumbs or crackers and butter.

Sew up the head and bind it with thread; put it in the pot with the water it has been parboiled in and let it stew slowly. Take up the head, and add to the gravy a lump of butter, rolled in flour, some browning and some walnut catsup. Pour this over the head, which should be brown. If the shoat is not very small, use bread and butter instead of the liver.--_Mrs. R._

TO HASH PIG'S HEAD.

Take head, feet, and haslet of pig; boil them until done, then cut them up fine, taking out the bones.

Add black pepper, salt, a little sage. 2 onions chopped fine. A little red pepper. 1 teaspoonful mace. 1 teaspoonful cloves.

Put it back in the same vessel with liquor and cook till done, then thicken with a little flour. Add two hard-boiled eggs and one cup walnut catsup.--_Mrs. Dr. J._

BEEF AND VEAL.

In selecting beef, see that the flesh is firm and of a clear red, and the fat of a yellowish white. In buying a quarter of beef, it is better to have it cut up by the butcher, if you are living in town. The hind quarter is considered better, and sells higher than the fore quarter. If a roasting piece is desired, the sirloin from the hind quarter is usually preferred. It is not generally known, however, that the second cut of the rib-roast from the fore quarter is the finest roast from the beef.

When the bone has been removed, and the meat skewered in the shape of a round, by the butcher, it is well to roast it on a spit before an open fire. If the latter cannot be obtained, however, plunge the beef for a moment in boiling water, then rub well with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and place on a little grate or trivet which will readily go in a baking-pan. In this pour about a pint of the water in which the beef was scalded. Place it in a very hot oven, with an inverted tin plate on top of the roast. Remove this plate often to baste the meat. When nearly done, which will be in about two hours for a roast of six pounds, baste several times and bake a nice brown. Season the gravy with minced onion, parsley and thyme, add a little salt and pepper and a tablespoonful of the meat flavoring of which a receipt was given in the general directions about meat. Serve the gravy in a sauce-tureen, so that each person may choose whether to eat the beef with gravy or with the juice that escapes from the meat while it is being carved. The latter mixed with grated horseradish is preferred to gravy by some persons.

Every portion of the beef, from head to feet, is useful and delicious when properly prepared.

The rounds and rump pieces are generally used for beef _à la mode_.

Fresh beef from the ribs, boiled with turnips, is considered a nice dish by some persons.

For steak, nothing is so nice as tenderloin or porter-house steak. I take this occasion to protest against the unwholesome custom of frying steak in lard. When inconvenient to broil, it may be deliciously cooked by being first beaten till tender, then laid in a hot frying-pan, closely covered, and cooked without lard or butter, in its own juices. When scorched brown on both sides, but not hard, remove the pan from the fire, pepper and salt the steak, and put a large tablespoonful of fresh butter on it. Press this in with a knife and fork, turning the steak, so that each side may absorb the butter. Serve on a hot dish. The whole process will not consume five minutes. Some persons think it best to add the salt after the steak is done, though many good housekeepers salt and pepper the steak before broiling it. Beefsteak should be cooked rare; it is a great mistake to cook it till hard and indigestible.

The parts most suitable for soup are the head, neck, shank, and all the unsightly parts. After the bones are broken and the meat boiled from them, the liquor is used for soup, while the meat, picked or cut to pieces, will make an excellent stew seasoned with potatoes, turnips, sweet herbs, one tablespoonful of butter and the same of meat flavoring.

It is well always to keep brine on hand for corning beef. All the parts not desirable for roast or steak had better be corned.

The beef, after being dressed, should be hung up by the hind legs, with a smooth, round piece of timber sufficiently strong to hold the weight, passed through the legs at the hock, or run between the tendon and bone, with short pegs to keep the legs stretched apart. Then with a sharp axe, standing behind the suspended beef, split it down the backbone, severing it in half. Then pass a knife through the ribs, leaving two or three short ribs on the hind-quarter. Sever the backbone with an axe. Then cut with a sharp knife straight across the parallel line with the spinal bone, which piece must be divided into two pieces, the sirloin and steak. Then take off two rounds, or three, according to the size of the animal, cutting with a sharp knife, and cutting the bone with a meat saw or axe, as near the joints as possible, which leaves the shin-bone.

The fore quarter then is divided into four pieces, after taking off the shoulder, which may be divided into three or more pieces.

The loin of veal is the nicest part, and is always roasted.

The fillets and knuckles may be stewed and roasted.

The latter is nicest for soup.

The breast may be stewed or roasted.

The cutlets are nicest from the legs or fillet.

The head is a dish for soup, stew or pie.

Sweetbreads from the throat make a delicious dish, much prized by epicureans.

The feet, boiled till the bones drop out, make a delightful dish, fried in batter, while the water in which they are boiled makes excellent jelly.

Veal, to be eaten in its perfection, should be killed when from four to six weeks old.

BEEF.

The sirloin, or fore and middle ribs, are best for roasting.

The steaks are best cut from the ribs, or the inner part of the sirloin; shank, tail and head make nice soup.--_Mrs. W._

TO ROAST BEEF.

Lay the meat on some sticks in a dripping-pan or other vessel, so that it will not touch the water which it is necessary to have in the bottom. Season with salt and pepper, and put in the oven three or four hours before it is wanted for the table. Baste it often with the water in the bottom of the pan, renewing it as often as it gets low. This makes sweet, juicy roast beef. The great secret of it is, not to have the meat touch the water in the bottom of the pan, and to baste it often. Tough, unpromising pieces of beef are best cooked by steaming them an hour and a half or so and then putting them in the oven and roasting as much longer.

Crackers, first browned and then pounded, should always be kept to sift over roast meats: and curled parsley to garnish with. Grated horseradish is also excellent with the roast.--_Mrs. S. T._

RIB ROAST OF BEEF.

Get, from the butcher, a rib-roast--the second cut is best--and get him to take out the bones, and roll and skewer it: if this is not convenient, it can be done at home with a sharp knife. Before roasting, take out the wooden skewers put in at market, unroll, season well with salt and pepper and anything else liked, and roll again tightly, fastening securely with the iron skewer pins. Put it in a pan on a little iron griddle or trivet, made for the purpose to keep it just over the pint of water in the pan. Pepper and salt freely, dredge with flour and baste. Some persons like half a teacup of pepper vinegar, poured over just before it is done; and minced onion, thyme and parsley added to the gravy, which should be brown.--_Mrs. B._

TO ROAST BEEF.

The sirloin is the nicest for the purpose.

Plunge the beef in boiling water and boil for thirty minutes: then put it in the stove-pan; skim the top of the water in which it has been boiled, and baste the roast, after dredging it with flour; pepper and salt to taste. Baste frequently, and roast till done.--_Mrs. P. W._

BEEF À LA MODE.

Take, from a round of fresh beef, the bone; beat the meat all over slightly to make tender. Grate a loaf of bread, mix with it equal quantities of--

Thyme and parsley, rubbed fine. 1 onion. The marrow from the bone. ¼ pound suet. Pepper and salt, cloves and nutmeg to the taste.

Mix these ingredients with three eggs well beaten: fill the place from whence came the bone, and what is left rub all over the round: fasten well with a tape, tied round to keep in shape. Cover the pan with slices of bacon, lay the beef upon them, baste with butter: pour in the pan a pint of water. Cover closely and stew gently for six hours; when thoroughly done, take out the beef, skim the fat from the gravy, strain into a saucepan, set it on the stove and stir into it one teacup Port wine. Let it come to a boil and send to the table in a sauce tureen. You may, for supper, dish cold: dress with vegetable flowers, whites of eggs boiled hard and chopped fine.--_Mrs. J. W. S._

_Beef à la Mode._

Take a round or a rump piece of beef, take out the bone, the gristle and all the tough pieces about the edges. Fill the cavities from which the bone was taken, with suet, and fat salt pork.

Press this so as to make it perfectly round, pass around a coarse, strong piece of cloth, so as to hold it firmly in shape. If the round is six inches thick, the cloth must be six inches wide, leaving the top and bottom open. With a larding needle, fill this thickly with strips of fat pork, running through from top to bottom and about one inch apart each way. Set this in a baking-pan, pour over:

1 teacup boiling water, 1 teacup boiling vinegar; mixed.

Add to this one heaping tablespoonful brown sugar and a bunch of herbs.

Sprinkle over the beef liberally with salt and black pepper; chop one small onion fine, and lay over top of the beef. Simmer this for two or three hours, basting frequently and keeping an inverted tin plate over the beef except when basting. If the gravy stews down too much, add stock or broth of any kind. Turn it over, and let the top be at the bottom. When it is done and tender, skim the fat from the gravy. Pour over:

2 tablespoonfuls celery vinegar. 2 tablespoonfuls pepper. 2 tablespoonfuls made mustard. 1 wineglassful acid fruit jelly.

Simmer and bake for two hours longer, frequently basting, that it may be soft and seasoned through and through. Take the beef from the pan and remove the cloth; place in a large flat dish, pour over the gravy, and over this one teacup of mushroom sauce. Sift finely powdered cracker over the top and garnish with grated or scraped horseradish and parsley.--_Mrs. S. T._

_Beef à la Mode._

To 10 pounds of beef, 4 onions chopped up. 1 tablespoonful allspice, 1 teaspoonful mace. Red pepper and salt to the taste. 1 pint strong vinegar.

Rub the beef in the mixture for three or four days, then cook, with all these ingredients. The H piece is generally the part taken for this purpose.--_Mrs. M. B._

BOILED BEEF AND TURNIPS.

The brisket or breast of beef is nicest for boiling. Keep sufficiently covered in water, boiling three hours, or until tender.

Peel and slice half a dozen turnips and put with beef, boiling until soft enough to mash with a spoon, which will require about thirty minutes. Dress with one teacup of milk, pepper and salt to the taste.

Stew together a short time and put in bottom of dish with beef on the top.--_Mrs. P. W._

TO COLLAR BEEF.

Take a flank of fresh beef, stew it with pepper, salt, allspice, saltpetre, thyme, and sage.

Then roll as hard as you can, and wind a string around it; then boil till done. It must be served up cold, cut in slices.--_Mrs. M. P._

ROLLED BEEFSTEAK.

Beat a large tender steak thoroughly and carefully.

Sprinkle over salt, pepper, sage, minced onion, minced parsley, and bits of butter.

Have ready some mealy Irish potatoes mashed fine, and seasoned with a little butter and salt. Spread over all, and roll up tightly: fasten the ends and sides securely with skewer pins. Place in a pan with such broth or gravy as may be on hand; if none, two teacups of boiling water, and one small minced onion, pepper, salt, and one slice of pork.

Simmer and baste as you would a roast duck. Sift over it browned cracker, pounded fine. Very nice.--_Mrs. S. T._

BEEFSTEAK BROILED.

Cut the steak one-half inch thick; it should then be beaten with a steak beater or pestle. The griddle should be hot and on the coals: place the steak on the griddle, and as soon as seared, turn it; when both sides are seared, place it in a pan, season it with pepper, salt, and butter: repeat this for every piece of steak, and place in the pan, which should be kept closely covered without being on the fire. If your heat is sufficient, from three to five minutes is sufficient to cook.--_Mrs. P. W._

BROILED STEAK.

A porter-house steak is considered, by some persons, best, others prefer the tenderloin. Beat either tender, and place on a gridiron over coals, frequently turning. Have ready a hot dish, place the steak on it, pepper and salt well, then with a knife and fork profusely butter, with one large tablespoonful fresh butter, turning and pressing it so as to absorb the butter; pepper again and set the dish over boiling water until wanted, when it will be found tender and juicy, if not cooked too long on a gridiron. One tablespoonful pepper vinegar gives this the taste of venison, and to this may be added one tablespoonful made mustard, for those who like highly seasoned food.--_Mrs. S. T._

HOW TO COOK BEEFSTEAK.

Take a thin, long-handled frying-pan, put it on the stove and heat it quite hot. In this put the pieces of steak previously pounded, but do not put a particle of butter in the frying-pan and do not salt the steak. Allow the steak to merely glaze over and then turn it quickly to the other side, turning it several times in this manner, until it is done. Four minutes is sufficient for cooking. When done, lay it on the platter, previously warmed; butter and salt, and set a moment in the hot oven. Allow the steak to heat but a moment on each side; this helps it to retain all its sweet juices, and putting on the salt at the last moment, after it is on the platter, draws out its juices.--_Mrs. S. T._

BEEFSTEAK FRIED WITH ONIONS.

Prepare the steak as for broiling, pepper and roll in flour and fry in lard; remove the steak from the pan when done; add to the gravy one chopped onion, pepper, salt, one-half teacup water, and a little mustard.

Cook a few minutes, put the steak in the gravy--let it remain a short time; send to the table hot.--_Mrs. P. W._

TO FRY STEAK.

Hunt up all the pickle and take from each one teacup vinegar, lay the steak in a deep dish, pour over the vinegar and let it stand one hour. Take a clean frying-pan, throw in one ounce butter, and some of the vinegar from the dish, sufficient to stew the steak. If managed properly, when done it will be imbedded in a thick gravy. Put the steak in a hot dish, before the fire; into the pan, put one spoonful black pepper, one or two of catsup, and one of raw mustard.--_Mrs. S._

_Fried Steak._

Get from the butcher a tenderloin or porter-house steak. Do not wash it, but be careful to lay it on a clean block and beat it well, but not into holes, nor so as to look ragged. Sprinkle over pepper and salt, then dredge with flour on both sides.

Have ready a hot frying-pan, lay in the steak and cover closely. The juice of the meat will be sufficient to cook it. Turn often, as the pan must be hot enough to scorch and make the steak and gravy brown.

Before it gets hard or overdone, butter liberally; place in a hot dish. Pepper again, and, if preferred, pour over first one tablespoonful pepper vinegar, then one tablespoonful made mustard, and turn in over all the hot gravy. Sift powered cracker over and serve.--_Mrs. S. T._

FRIZZLED BEEF.

Shred some dried beef, parboil it until it is sufficiently freshened, drain off the water and add enough boiling water to cover it. Rub equal quantities of butter and flour together until smooth, then add to the beef. Beat up three eggs, yolks and whites together, stir these in with a little pepper, a couple of minutes before taking from the fire. This is to be served hot on toast.--_Mrs. F._

FRICASSÉED BEEF.

Take any piece of beef from the fore quarter, such as is generally used for corning, and cook it tender in just water enough to have it all evaporate in cooking. When about half done, put in salt enough to season well, and half teaspoonful pepper. If the water should not boil away soon enough, turn it off, and let the beef fry fifteen minutes--it is better than the best roast beef. Take two tablespoonfuls flour, adding the fat--when mixed, pour on the hot juice of the meat. Serve with apple sauce.--_Mrs. D._

BEEF STEW.

This is best when made of slices cut from an underdone roast, and simmered in any liquor in which meat has been boiled, but if none is at hand, use water instead--just covering the beef.

To a half dozen slices of the usual size, add:

2 tablespoonfuls pepper vinegar. 1 tablespoonful of made mustard. 1 tablespoonful of acid fruit jelly. 1 tablespoonful of butter. 1 teaspoonful salt. 1 teaspoonful celery-seed. 1 saltspoonful black pepper. 1 raw turnip, grated or scraped fine. 1 mashed Irish potato. Add minced onion and parsley. Boil up and serve.

Cold beefsteak or mutton chops, which are always unfit to appear upon the table a second time, are delicious cut up in small pieces and mixed or stewed separately in this way.--_Mrs. S. T._

TO STEW A RUMP OF BEEF.